Adobe Photoshop Elements 10
Adobe Photoshop Elements 10

Best photo-editing software for most

$100
Estimated Price

Expert reviews say Adobe Photoshop Elements is the best photo-editing software for most users. It's got plenty of power to handle all but the most sophisticated image-editing tasks, and Elements earns kudos for being easier to use than most of its competitors. Useful features include a tool for resizing parts of images, as well as photomerge, which blends overexposed and underexposed photos to create a more balanced final version. Photoshop Elements 10 includes tighter Facebook integration, new paint effects and "guided edits," which walk users through more advanced editing techniques. Critics say the organizational side of Photoshop Elements is lacking, however. The interface is complex, reviewers say, and switching between the organizational and editing modes is a pain. Reviewers also say that Elements 10 isn't a must-have upgrade for existing users.

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Google Picasa
Google Picasa

Free photo-editing software

$0
Estimated Price

Though Google Picasa includes some fairly powerful editing tools, the program continues to shine most brightly as a photo organizer. Features include face-recognition technology, which gives Picasa the ability to organize photos by the people who are in the picture, and geotagging, which automatically sorts photos by location. Web integration is seamless, making it easy to synchronize edited photos with Google+, blogs and personal websites. However, Picasa lacks Facebook and Flickr plug-ins (not too surprising, given that these are competitors). Google's acquisition of the popular Picnik photo editor adds some robustness to Picasa's editing tools.

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Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4

Best photo organizer and editor

$150
Estimated Price

Reviewers say Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is sophisticated enough for professionals, yet fairly easy for hobbyists to use. The program combines image management with advanced editing tools, automatically keeping the original image intact. Though it's especially adept at editing RAW photo files, it's equally good for processing JPEG images. The newest version, Adobe Lightroom 4, continues its tradition of powerful photo editing, along with new features like basic video support, geotagging and book-publishing tools. Reviews are nearly all positive, although some users would like to see a facial recognition feature.

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Adobe Photoshop CS6
Adobe Photoshop CS6

Professional photo-editing software

$700
Estimated Price

Other photo-editing programs are faster and easier to use, but Adobe Photoshop remains the industry standard for graphic artists and others who need the most advanced image-manipulation tools. Reviewers say the latest version, Adobe Photoshop CS6, is a major upgrade from previous versions. Not only does Photoshop run faster during intensive tasks, but it also includes basic video-editing tools. Overall, reviewers say Photoshop outclasses every other application in terms of the number of photo-editing tools available and their power. Just make sure you have a computer that's powerful as well -- including lots and lots of RAM -- so that you can take full advantage of everything Photoshop has to offer.

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